The 2013 Adventure Racing World Series continued with round 6 taking place in the Australian outback as XPD returned to the calendar from September 1st – 11th. (The last outing for the race was the AR World Championships in Tasmania in 2011.)
XPD is the longest race in the series with a 700km course to be completed over 10 days, and the 7th edition lived up to its tag line of “as much an expedition as a race”. Thirty teams from Australia and New Zealand were presented with a point to point course that took them on the journey of a lifetime through the Outback of South Australia. Remote cattle stations, a trek across a dry salt lake, an epic rock face ascent, trekking through dry creeks canyons and riding dusty trails with sightings of kangaroo and emu, were all part of the adventure.
In a race which took in sacred aboriginal territories, the Flinders Ranges and Mount Remarkable National Parks, weather conditions ranged from 35 degree temperatures at the start to cool nights, and at the end of the race fierce winds.
The course took teams from Arkaroola to Port Augusta, and began in the hottest temperatures of the race, taking teams through Wooltana Station to Frome Lake, one of the highlights of the race. Here teams had to trek across the dried lake bed, which is below sea level and has the whitest salt pans in the southern hemisphere. The leading teams crossed at night (using celestial navigation), and it was a navigational and endurance challenge for all the teams on one of the most iconic and unique treks in adventure racing history.
The teams were reliant on their own resources in such remote landscapes, and it wasn’t until stage 5 of the race that they arrived at a ‘town’, Blinman … population 22! (The highest surveyed town in Australia at 612m.) Race organisers Geocentric Outdoor ensured the safety of teams, who all carried GPS satellite trackers. Teams also stopped for food and a compulsory 4 hour rest at Hawker, but were otherwise racing non-stop and independently.
Before Hawker came another highlight, the trek across Milpena Pound to the rope climbing on ‘The Big Wall’ at Moonarie, one of Australia’s classic climbing venues. Teams ascended and descended 380m on the great red rock wall, enjoying exhilarating exposure and the views across the plains.
One of the most experienced XPD teams, Team Goldfish said, “We scrambled up the ascent in the dark arriving at the base of the wall just as the sun rose. The rock walls were deep orange, the air fresh and we were pumped”. They added, “The Flinders Ranges are spectacular and we are loving the point-to-point format of the race cos it feels like an expedition and we can see how much ground we have covered when we get a view.”
As the race progressed severe blisters and exhaustion affected the competitors, but adventure racing is all about team work and only 2 teams retired, while another 3 were unranked due to missing part of the course or one team member pulling out.
At the front of the race the leaders from early on were Team Mountain Designs, comprising Gary Sutherland, Dave Schloss, Leo Theoharis, Kim Beckinsale. They maintained their lead into the second half of the race and onto the final 87km sea kayaking stage in Spencer Gulf, pursued by Kiwi team ‘Bivouac Colts’, one of the youngest teams in the race. These two teams began the final stage and camped out for the night when darkness fell, as per the race safety rules, but were unable to finish the route next day due to the high winds.
So, the final outcome was that Team Mountain Designs were the winners in a race time of 122 hours 08 minutes, and the team won a free place on the start line of the AR World Championships in Costa Rica in December.
The next race in the AR World Series, Bimbache Extrem, has just wrapped up in Spain, and the Gold Rush Mother Lode race follows on Sept. 18th in the U.S.A.
For more information on XPD, including videos, photos and reports see live.xpd.com.au
For more on the AR World Series see www.arworldseries.com